


You've Cat to be Kitten Me Right Meow

by ImJaebabie



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Fluff and Humor, M/M, Thirst Trapping, background xiaomark, cat dad, featuring Leon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:28:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26481931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImJaebabie/pseuds/ImJaebabie
Summary: Maybe thirst traps like, work.
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Wong Kun Hang | Hendery
Comments: 42
Kudos: 287





	You've Cat to be Kitten Me Right Meow

**Author's Note:**

  * For [speckledsolanaceae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/speckledsolanaceae/gifts), [toxicmew](https://archiveofourown.org/users/toxicmew/gifts), [jeannedarc](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeannedarc/gifts).



> lita, appia, & anne brain wormed me

“Hey, is it cool with you if Mark brings his roommate over later?”

Guanheng pauses his efforts to lint roll the couch—going poorly—to slightly frown at Dejun and the phone he’s holding mid-call against his chest. 

“I…guess? If they don’t mind like, a stupid amount of cat hair on their…everything.” 

Dejun smiles angelically, like he always does. “I doubt it’ll be a problem.” He brings the phone back to his ear. “Mark? He’s fine with it. Don’t wear black, maybe.”

It’s unclear to Guangheng why his permission was needed for this in particular; he and Dejun have always been pretty flexible about inviting people over. Respectful of each other, sure, but as far as Guanheng was concerned, Dejun’s boyfriend could bring his roommate and that was more or less not Guanheng’s business. Mark being there at odd hours or accompanied by other people doesn’t bother Guanheng, and Dejun knows Guanheng has his insta baited for an eventual boyfriend of his own, and they’re chill. They have an understanding. It’s fine. 

A few more runs of the lint brush and Guanheng calls it quits on de-furring the couch. He’s coming to accept that Leon sheds like seven cats in a single-cat-shaped trench coat, and there just isn’t anything he can do about it. He’s grateful it doesn’t seem to bother Dejun much. 

As he’s putting the brush away Leon appears in a curl around his ankle, and Guanheng scoops the cat up with one hand to catch his little purr of delight. “Do you want to take another selfie with me for the viewers, little boy?” Guanheng asks, voice cooing. 

Leon offers him a slow blink.

“That’s what I thought.”

-

The first thing Guanheng notices when they arrive is that Dejun’s warning about wearing black has been blatantly, almost hubristically disregarded. Not by Mark; Mark Lee, true to form, behaves in conformity with Dejun’s smallest requests, including but not limited to wearing jeans and a blue button down, bringing the suggested tteokbokki from the cart down the street, and not arriving before Dejun had time to vacuum and tell Guanheng he might want to put a shirt on. Mark Lee is a known entity that Guanheng has been comfortably getting to know as an increasingly important aspect of Dejun’s life, and he likes him.

Lee Jeno, however…looks like he spawns each morning brand new in head-to-toe black attire, a full ensemble of t-shirt tucked into joggers. Even his hair is a fluffy, shiny black undercut once he removes his ball cap. 

Jeno smiles politely and so sweet, like you could put him anywhere and he’d simply say he was happy to be there, be it Bed Bath and Beyond or a literal bog. His roommate’s immediate abandonment of him in this new place does not seem to phase him even slightly. He glances around the living room, past Mark and Dejun with their twin guitars on the couch comparing finger placings in their typical music-themed mating ritual, and looking _through_ Guanheng like he’s more window than door, and the lack of movement out of the doorway has Guanheng confused. Whatever Jeno’s looking for he appears not to find, his eyes coming to rest on Guanheng and crimping in his sunny smile as if to ask what Guanheng has next for him.

“I was gonna play some of that Among Us game, if you want? To join me, I mean.” Guanheng offers, by way of having nothing else to say and not wanting to float in the limbo of that space with a near stranger any longer, but still compelled by his ingrained values of hospitality. 

“In your room?” Jeno asks.

“If you’re cool with that?” Guanheng’s gaming stuff is all in there, but he’ll understand if Jeno’s not comfortable just going into some guys room so sudd—

Jeno nods enthusiastically. Very enthusiastically. He toes out of his shoes without even glancing at them and passes Guanheng, then pauses, shifting in place in a visible manifestation of energized uncertainty. It’s kind of cute, almost, even if Guanheng doesn’t have a pin on what makes Jeno so eager. But like, gaming is a good time. He can roll with that vibe.

He doubts Mark and Dejun even notice them phase down the hall to Guanheng’s room. That’s fine, Guanheng prides himself a little on his ability to jive with, and successfully entertain, basically anyone. He’d made friends with Sicheng in under fifteen minutes; if he could do that, he’s sure he can handle one handsome, fairly quiet boy with an interest in video games. Piece of cake.

“It’s the same…” Jeno mumbles as they enter the room.

“What’s that?”

“Oh, nothing.”

Jeno shakes his head and smiles again, and it’s all he seems willing to give, so Guanheng lets it drop.

Guanheng has only started booting up the game on his tablet when Jeno speaks again.

“So, I saw on—I mean, Mark says you have a cat?” 

Guanheng turns and lifts his chin, eyebrows rising naturally. “Hm? Oh, well, yeah I have uh, Leon. He’s around somewhere.” 

“Like where?” Jeno has this look on his face like merely the knowledge that a cat is present, somewhere, is enough to turn him liquid, but the way seltzer water is liquid, as opposed to a nice cup of tea. Fizzing subtly, a barely suppressed carbonation waiting for release.

Guanheng’s not sure what that means. “Around? He hides a lot of the day. Probably shedding on something. Sorry about that, by the way. There’s probably already hair on you.” 

There is, in fact, already cat hair on Jeno. Guanheng can see it, the tawny, short strands having found a way to his shoulder somehow. He straightens up and reaches to pinch the ones he can see off before the thought really even registers.

Jeno tilts his head in mild surprise and shifts his shoulder back, and Guanheng retrieves his hand.

“Oh sorry, habit. We’re covered.” The air is a little less comfortable, but Guanheng manages it. He nabs the tablet from his desk and hands it to Jeno. “You can use this, I’ll play on my laptop. Again, there’s cat hair everywhere, but you’re welcome to sit on my bed.”

“Ah, cool. Thanks,” Jeno says, in a much more even tone, and takes the seat. He settles against the wall with legs outstretched, then seems to think differently and arranges himself in a way Guanheng could only describe as someone would sit if they thought they were being photographed. Which…objectively, Jeno could appear in a magazine and Guanheng wouldn’t question it. He’d admire it, probably, being completely honest—

But whatever. Guanheng smiles politely and turns his attention to the game.

For a while, it’s an easy mix of silence and game commentary, Jeno apparently loosening up enough to cuss when he gets banished for being an impostor—he’s isn’t one that round, Guanheng is, and there’s even _more_ cussing once that comes to light—but it’s fun and Guanheng determines Jeno to be mostly normal, pretty fun to be around, and quick at games. That’s more than enough to be a winner in Guanheng’s book.

Before their third round, Guanheng excuses himself to retrieve some snacks from the kitchen—whatever unopened bags he can find and a couple of sodas—and to check on Dejun. His roommate plus boyfriend have devolved from guitar playing to variety show watching in some position like playing cards precariously leaning and about to collapse in on one another, which means Guanheng probably can expect to entertain Jeno for at least another couple of hours.

He walks back into his room, and comes to an abrupt stop at Jeno kneeling on the floor, bent over, and peering under his bed.

“Uh.”

Jeno jolts, withdrawing to look up at Guanheng with a flush already warming his face.

“I-I dropped my phone,” he explains, holding the item in his hand to show Guanheng. 

Guanheng blinks and ducks his head away. “Flashlight is on.” 

“Whoops, sorry.”

“All good,” Guanheng says, feeling like something is slightly less than all good, but uncertain about it. He sets the snacks down in reach of both of them, and then rolls his computer chair over to flick the control for the ceiling aircon to the highest setting, since two people in the room somehow exponentially increases the heat level. 

Jeno finds his way back onto the bed picking up a chip bag as he goes, and is quiet for a moment as the fan whizzes. 

Guanheng idly twists his chair right and left as he waits for the server to load a new session for them. He hooks a thumb under the shoulder of his cutoff tank and flaps the shirt to increase airflow. The aircon only really points at the bed, and usually takes a while to circulate in the room. 

“You can,” Jeno lightly clears his throat, “you can sit over here too, if you’re hot. The flow is nice and cold.” 

It’s where Guanheng would be in normal circumstances, and he’s warm enough to make the move without too much thought. “Thanks, sorry I just get hot easily. Normally I’d just not wear a shirt, y’know?” Or pants, he thinks, but figures mentioning taking off his athletic shorts might give the wrong sort of impression in the current circumstances. In others, he might just go for it.

Jeno hums and rather attentively watches Guanheng settle so that their screens aren’t visible to each other, and says nothing more as the next round starts. 

The round is decidedly more dramatic. Jeno gets this seriously focused look the couple of times Guanheng glances over, and it’s oddly endearing—the way an intimidating level of handsome intensity can be if you’re trying not to think about it too hard, being that it’s your roommate’s boyfriend’s roommate who you barely know and have only just started to consider might be his own distinct person with really long eyelashes and a aura of sturdy gentleness about him.

But Guanheng is definitely not thinking about that, as he plays progressively worse. The game drama is enough that Guanheng’s unconscious habit of grabbing the nearest thing and shaking it frantically comes out, and the nearest thing happens to be Jeno’s arm, just below the elbow and the hem of his nondescript black t-shirt. Maybe it’s because Guanheng’s been on a bit of a man-scoping kick for a few months, or maybe it’s just that his gay little brain can’t _not_ notice, but…well, it’s a nice arm, he does notice, quite quickly, once he’s realized his mistake and grabbing it.

“Oh god, sorry,” Guanheng says, “not intentional, just got wrapped up in the game there and, uh, and—“

The close-lipped smile on Jeno’s face has taken a new direction, somehow. It seems more pleased? But it could just be that Guanheng is closer to it, this time. Except that Jeno snorts a little laugh and knocks his black jean-clad knee into Guanheng’s bare one. “You can grab me, if you want. I can take it,” he says.

“Right.” 

It’s an odd invitation that haunts Guanheng through the next round, which proves even crazier than the last, and with Guanheng barely winning getting the impostor out he only realizes he’s doing the grabbing thing again when his hand comes down on Jeno’s thigh instead of his arm.

“Sorry about that.”

What follows is what Guanheng would qualify as an awkward moment, wherein Jeno ponders his leg for a moment before looking up at him with a curious tilt to his head, and Guanheng considers whether this encounter will break his record for befriending people in weird circumstances. Then Jeno sets the tablet aside and pushes his nearer hand into the mattress between them, leaning well into Guanheng’s space.

Guanheng blinks in surprise. The laptop slides off his lap. Jeno smiles congenially. 

“Don’t you think we should just cut to the chase, here?”

Until this moment, Guanheng has not been aware of any chase. He ignores the small part of his brain that wonders what being caught by Jeno would feel like. “What?”

“I think we both know what we want.”

“We do?”

Jeno nods, his big, dark eyes glinting. “I’ve seen your insta. It wasn’t subtle.”

“You have? So you…came here on purpose? To meet—”

“Yeah. And you invited me right into your room. So, can I or not?”

Jeno’s seen Guanheng’s instagram. It’s news that makes any contribution the aircon was meant to have on Guanheng’s personal warmth level rather insignificant. He’s seen it, and then come with Mark to their apartment with a wholeass agenda and Guanheng doesn’t do a ton of hookups but Jeno is decidedly hot, and in his bed already, and they’re not called _thirst_ traps for nothing— 

“Fuck, well. I mean. If you really want to, I’m like, I’m down. It’s a little sudden, but if you want this—“

“Guanheng, can I meet your cat or not?”

“…my cat?”

Everything stops. Jeno looks just as serious as in the previous seconds before Guanheng’s day turned into a sitcom episode. 

“You want to meet my cat?”

“I thought that was pretty obvious? I asked about him earlier. But I think this can benefit both of us.”

“Explain how,” Guanheng asks, feeling a little stifled in their closeness. 

Jeno does not give him any more space, but instead brings his free hand to tap lightly on Guanheng’s knee. “I’m not dumb, your posts _aren’t_ subtle. You’re attractive and clearly looking for someone to come tell you. And you have a cat.”

“I do have a cat.”

“Yeah. And I am someone. Someone who really likes cats, and also thinks you’re hot and would go on dates with you.” Jeno palms his knee. “See? Beneficial for us both.”

Guanheng wheezes, “I just met you like two hours ago.”

“Was it a bad two hours?” Guanheng shakes his head. “Then so what?”

He makes a good point. Or, he seems to be, but Guanheng’s head’s a little clouded from being calmly stared down and having his knee gently massaged while all his perceptions of the day go flying out the window. But again. So what? He’s being offered...a boyfriend? Or something? In exchange for basically sharing his fur baby.

As he considers this, there comes the sound of a light scratching at his door, and Jeno’s head turns to it like a hunting dog catching a scent.

“Is that him?”

“Probably—”

He’s off the bed in an instant, opening the door and crouching down to welcome Leon as the cat traipses into Guanheng’s room with a cheerful chirrup and zero sense of stranger danger, accepting Jeno’s pets immediately. 

Guanheng can only watch, mystified, as his kitten gets coddled and cooed over by a guy offering to be significant other completely out of left field. 

Slowly, Guanheng bumbles off the bed and slides into a cross-legged seat on the floor, letting himself just observe the two entities getting to know each other there already, and he thinks: why not? Why not. Isn’t it what he wanted? To attract someone close enough that he could find out if he wanted to be around them more? Jeno’s just upfront about it, which is kind of nice. At worst, they don’t work as a couple, and that’s ok. At best, a boyfriend has delivered himself to him. 

“Hey,” Guanheng says, capturing Jeno’s attention. “Sure.”

“Sure? Like, you agree?”

“I agree. You’re also hot, and you game pretty well, and Leon likes you. So, like you said. So what? Let’s date.” 

Leon climbs into Jeno’s lap and paws at his collar, already covering him with loose fur, and Jeno smiles with all his teeth, even laughs a little. There’s a soft hint of pink on his face. “Awesome.”

It’s not too long later, after they’ve played with Leon for a while even taken a selfie together featuring the feline, that Mark appears in the doorway with an arm around the waist of a sleepy-looking Dejun, cordially rapping his knuckles twice against the open door.

“Jen, you ready to head back?”

Jeno spares Guanheng a quick glance, then says, “Yeah, if you are.”

“Cool cool, I’ve got work early.” 

They make a small parade out of Guanheng’s room and as Mark battles with his shoes Jeno holds out a hand to Guanheng, which he nearly takes before Jeno says, “Your phone, can I put my number in?”

“Oh, yes,” says Guanheng, aborting the movement to hand over his phone instead. It’s returned once Jeno has inserted his number and called himself, his face crinkling into the signature sweet eye smile that Guanheng realizes he’s quickly growing fond of. 

“I’ll call you tomorrow, ok?”

“Sure.”

“But you can text me pics of Leon before that, if you um…” for one moment, Jeno actually looks a little shy. “I mean, with you in them too. I’d like that.”

Mark snorts a laugh and Jeno turns to whack his arm.

But Guanheng would love to. He has a whole camera roll of selfies ready for this. “No problem,” he says. 

The look of delight on Jeno’s face is worth it. Once Mark and Dejun have had a moment to flaunt their already established relationship—Mark presses an achingly soft kiss to Dejun’s temple, Dejun hugs him back tight and sneaks one against his neck—the two nonresidents of the apartment shuffle out with waves and Guanheng finds his own dopey smile hasn’t left his face for a good while. 

As the door swings to shut, he just catches Mark’s voice saying, “So? It seems like your plan worked out then?” and Jeno’s laugh and “Yeah, it actually did.”

Dejun is, as usual, smiling angelically when Guanheng turns to him in shock. 

“They?! Did you?!”

“Mark mentioned Jeno was interested in meeting you and...well, the cat, but I figured he could tell you that himself. Guess I was right! You look cute together.”

Guanheng’s face twitches. “I’ve been had.” 

“You’ve been helped. Now, will you stop with all the thirst trap selfies? Leon doesn’t deserve to be used like that.”

“Ohoho no, I will do them _worse._ And I’m tagging Jeno in all of them.”

To prove it, Guanheng stalks away from the door already pulling out his phone, scrolling to find his most promiscuous photo with Leon to post and makes sure to tag not only Jeno, who’s user appears in cursory search of Mark’s following, but also Mark and Dejun just for the satisfaction. 

Jeno comments a cat heart-eyes emoji a half second later, and Guanheng thinks things are going to work out splendidly. 

**Author's Note:**

> henjen? jendery? which is it? don't know don't care. 
> 
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/ImJaeBabie)   
> or twt @imjaebabie


End file.
